Category: Taxes

3 ways I discovered how to reduce my taxes

I remember a few years ago I read this article online that I now cannot find. It was basically an explanation on how the rich pay much less in taxes as a percentage of their income. I didn’t think too much about trying to reduce my taxes at the time because I had recently graduated university, and was starting my new career in another province. I had too much to worry about before I could worry about trying to reduce my taxes…like getting enough income to start paying taxes. I thought that would be the best place to start! But I think it really stuck with me subconsciously because over the next few years I started to think of multiple “hustles” to help reduce my taxes as I felt this could be another avenue for retaining more money.Read more

7 ways to spend your tax return

In case you haven’t heard all the radio ads about how scary your income tax is SUPPOSED to be(it isn’t) in order to scare you into paying money to have someone file your taxes, you may not have realized that it’s tax season. An exciting season for a lot of people because it’s the one time of year they get “paid” from the government. Unfortunately, your tax return isn’t getting paid from the government but only getting your money back that you’ve loaned them interest free.

If you’re like the majority of the population you’re probably getting some money back in the next few weeks and I’m going to share with you some ways how to spend your tax return. Some of these will be great for future you, others are going to be instant gratification for present you. It will be all your choice; I can only pass along the ideas. Read more

Is income tax season as scary as they want us to believe?

Spoiler alert: Nope!

Well it’s the end of February and I’m starting to hear all of the usual ads on the radio when I’m driving anywhere now. Even on TV you’ll see a few of them. They’re all reminding you of the same thing and trying to tell you that you need a professional’s help. They’re all about tax season! With Canada’s personal income tax deadline coming up on April 30th, 2016 I’m going to tell you why you don’t have much to worry about and why you should file your taxes yourself.

Judging by all the commercials I hear on the radio you’d think filing taxes was the hardest thing in the world. These commercials like to emphasize that if you don’t get it right the government is going to come after you for more money. Sometimes they’ll use terms you might not be completely familiar with like deductions, tax credits, or audits.

I think a lot of people are under the impression a lot of these tax preparation places employ accountants and highly trained professionals that know the income tax structure inside and out. Unfortunately this is about the furthest thing from the truth. Read more